AJ Crimson Beauty Review: Creme Foundation in 4/6.5 + 4.5/7, Nude Lipsticks and Loose Finishing Powder Review and Swatches
/AJ Crimson has created an amazing line of foundations for colors of all skin tones. When we visited his last event - Beyond Beauty, Building Your Beauty Business – a Multicultural Beauty Event - AJ spoke about the creation of his beauty brand and how it was borne out of necessity. "I felt like there was an absolute need to bring product to women that actually worked and didn't oxide or change. I wanted to create a product inclusive of women of all ethnicities, a product all women could find ownership in and believe in. So often, makeup has been designed with a one size fits all mentality, and with black women and women of color, my cosmetic line contains shades for women of every ethnic background and skin tone." - AJ Crimson
There really isn't much more that I can say that AJ didn't so let's dive into some swatches and review shall we?
I ordered two of dual skin creme foundations in the warm 4/6.5 compact and the deep 4.5/7 compact along with 3 nude lipsticks and a loose finishing powder.
First, let's look at the dual skin creme foundation compacts. Here is the warm 4/6.5 compact.
Photo taken with LED lights and flash
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and no flash)
(Photo taken outside in natural lighting)
Here is the deep 4.5/7 compact.
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and no flash)
(Photo taken outside in natural lighting)
Here are all 4 shades swatched next to one another for a better comparison. This gives you a better idea of which ones have more of a yellow, golden or red undertone.
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash) 
(Photo taken outside in natural lighting)
And as usual, here is a live video of the foundations in different lighting (inside and natural sunlight to help you).
[embed]https://youtu.be/CMEoJch-YFY[/embed]
Next, is the loose finishing powder in neutral matte. You can use this to set your foundation and absorb shine.
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash. I blended it out as we move further right in the photo so you can see how it it applies once you pick it up and how it blends out.)
And now for the unfiltered test (oh the things I do for you guys). Here is a super upclose (unfiltered and unedited) photo of me testing out the warm 4/6.5 compact and loose finishing powder. I only set my underneath my eyes with the neutral loose finishing powder and didn't set my face because I wanted to see how the creme foundation performed on its own. I love the full coverage that you get with this foundation and contour shade, especially because I didn't put on any concealer and I have extremely dark circles that were covered with just the "4" foundation shade. The only thing that I would change in the future is to make sure to use a mattifying primer and mattifying setting spray because I felt "too shiny" in this photo - however, it was very hot the night I reviewed this foundation and my studio lights are insanely hot - so I am going to test it out and post a few updates once I do that.
Lastly, I picked out 3 lipsticks that were designed to be the perfect matte (creamy) nude for any skin tone. From left to right, we have #Nude, #PerfectSelfie and #NoFilter.
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and no flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and flash)
(Photo taken with LED lights and no flash)
(Photo taken outside in natural lighting)
I must say...it is refreshing to wear some creamy matte lipsticks that aren't liquid lipstick! My favorite of the three nude shades is definitely #NoFilter.
Whew! This post was definitely photo heavy but I really wanted to feature these foundation shades to help some of you that are having a hard time finding the right match for your skin tone and undertone. If you are or looking to try something new in your routine, definitely head to AJ Crimson Beauty.
